As we often do during these dog days of summer, with an emphasis on the doggish part during the week of the Major League All-Star Break, we scour the inter-webs to find anything that resembles relevance. Often we come up short, but that's exactly how we discover the news of the weird and other quirky types of things that pique our interest, as a result of perfect timing, if for no other reason. Occasionally, I might catch a glimpse of what another scribe is doing, and that inspires me. This week's inspiration comes courtesy of MLB.com's senior Indians writer, Jordan Bastian.
Bastian, who took over the Indians.com beat from Anthony Castrovince three years ago, had the difficult task of filling the shoes of a very talented once-local in Castrovince, but has done a good job engaging the reader, from where I sit anyway. So, I stumbled across Bastian's blog a few nights ago, one that compiled an Indians All-Time All-Star team; great concept. Instead of putting together a team larger than my high school varsity football team, which is what the actual mid-summer classic has become, the guidelines were to create an actual 25-man roster, one that can theoretically play a 162-game schedule. While I'm sure extensive work was put in, and the roster looked great, it just looked familiar--almost too familiar.
Len Barker is still the man. The Indians will have to wait a little longer for a no-hitter. It looked as good of a chance as the Indians have had in a long time on Sunday into seventh inning.
It’s been a while since we’ve shared a Lazy Sunday together. It’s been a busy summer, with a perfect storm of work and personal life conspiring to sap me of nearly all of my free time, so I’ve unfortunately had precious little chance to write. I hope you’ve missed this column as much as I’ve missed writing it, and if I had my way there would be 6,000+ words up here at least once a week. I still have interviews with several minor league players and coaches to write up as well, and you’ll hopefully be seeing those again on a regular basis very soon. I’m not one for excuses though, so let’s jump right into what you actually came here for on this Sunday morning; a look at our 2nd place Indians leading up to the all-star break.
When you consider the events of the first three months and two weeks of the 2013 season, it’s rather incredible that the Indians are even in the hunt. Battling injuries, streaky play, and players not meeting expectations, the Tribe has bobbed and weaved through the season to this point and trails by just 2.5 games in the AL Central race. One of those players that has battled both injuries and subpar performance is the team’s shortstop, Asdrubal Cabrera.
This is the worst part of the baseball season. Four days without games of value. Our only options are to endure 3.5 hours of Chris Berman’s tired schtick during televised batting practice or watch a game that “matters” a lot more than it should. Media members dig for bogus narratives and feel-good stories to keep themselves entertained. The players appear to enjoy themselves, though a fair amount of them are probably wishing they were on vacation like their teammates and managers are. For some, being named to the All-Star Game is a great achievement and something every great player should experience at least once. But overall, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and accompanying Home Run Derby are a joke and serve as nothing more than a respite from the rigors of a 162-game season.